Umbrella



July 14, 1936.

J. A. H. SIERS UMBRELLA 2 sheets-sheet 1 Filed Nov. 29, 1935 R Y W 0 muam 4 a w July 14, 1936.

UMBRELLA Filed Nov. 29, 1935 Zfiheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY.

Patented July 14, 1936 UNITED STATES smear OFFICE UMBRELLA John A. H.Siers, Jersey City, N. J.

Application November 29, 1935, Serial No. 52,049

12 Claims.

This invention relates to umbrellas or parasols of the collap'sible typein which a marked reduction is effected in the overall length of theumbrella, when fcl'osed, so that it may be conveniently carried inthepocket, handbag or suitcase.

The subject matter of the present application is, in Lpart, acontinuation 'of my prior application'for lpatentfierial No. 752,197,filed November19, 1:934, "and relates more particularly to the latchmeans, whereby the telescopically connected sections @of the umbrellastaff are retained in telescoped or extended relation to each other.

-A more particular object of the invention resides in the provision of ayieldable latch element mounted within the inner staff section and .apin mounted on the end of the outer stall section, and having means atits inner end adapted to coact with said latch element.

In one embodiment of the invention, the latch device may be providedwith spaced parts for coacting engagement with spaced means on one ofthe staff sections, whereby said staff sections are retained intelescoped or extended relation to each other.

In another embodiment of my invention, the pin carried by the outerstaff section may be manually moved to cooperate with the latch elementand move the latter to released position, whereby the'inner staffsection may be extended from the outer section.

It is a further general object of my invention to provide a latch meansfor the sectional umbrella staff which is simple, durable andinexpensive in its construction, as well as eflicient and reliable inpractical operation.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in theimproved umbrella or .parasol, and in the form, construction andrelative arrangement of its several parts as will be hereinafter, morefully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings andsubsequently incorporated in the subjoined claims.

In the drawings, wherein I have illustrated several simple and practicalembodiments of the invention and in which similar reference charactersdesignate corresponding parts throughout the several views:

Fig. .1 is a fragmentary vertical section illustrating one embodiment ofthe invention, and

showing the umbrella open and ready for use.

Fig. 2 is a similar vertical section on an. enlarged scale-showing theumbrella closed and the staff sections in telescoped relation.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view similar to mounted in the end ofthis sleeve, for a'purpose one of its ends to the member Fig. '1,illustrating a modifiedembodiment of the invention, and V Fig. 4 l is asectional View corresponding to Fig. 2 of the modified form of thedevice.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the umbrella staff as herein shown,embodies upper and lower sections 5 and 6 respectively, of thin walledmetal tubing. Preferably, the lower section '6 is telescoped within theupper section 5, suitable means being provided to limit the outwardextension of the section 6 from the staff section 5. Upon the upper endof the outer staif section 5, a sleeve l is suitably fixed and a pin -8is to be later explained. i

The usual runner 9 is vertically slidable on the staff section 6 andcarries a latch element -*i to releasably engage at one of its ends inan opening in the wall of the staff section 5 'to retain said runner atthe limit of its outward 2O movement. To the sleeve l and the runner 9,the parts of the umbrella frame are connected. This frame, herein"generally indicated at H,- has a covering of e1asticsheet material 12,suitably applied thereto. For a more particular description of thiscollapsible frame and its covering, reference maybe had to my pendingapplication forpatent above referred to.

Within the staif section-6, a slotted or grooved member i3 is suitablyfixed. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, a latch member in theform of a bowed leaf spring M is connected at I3 and at its other freeend is provided with an angularly .offset part it and adjacent theretowith the convex stud it for bearing engagement against the inner wall ofthe staff section 6. Intermediate of its ends, a lug i! is fixed to thelatch element 9 to project outwardly through an opening it in the Wallof the staff section 6 when the'staff sections are in t'elescopedrelation. This lug is received in a recess iii in the lower end of thewall of the stall section 5 to releasably hold the section 6 in itsextended position and "Bis moved into the section 5 untilits end abutsagainst the end of the sleeve 11, the angular offset 15 at the free endof the'latch element l4 first engages the conical end 2| of the pin 8and yieldably moves said latch element from its normal position untilsaid end portion l5 of the latch element snaps over the shoulder 22 ofsaid pin. The stud l6 bearing against the wall of the staff section 6insures adequate tension of the spring to resist unintentional outwardmovement of said staif sections.

In opening the umbrella, the staff section 6 is first pulled outwardly,the end I 5 of the latch element M yielding in response to such pull andbeing disengaged from the shoulder 22 of the pin 8. At the limit of theoutward movement of the staff section 6, the lug H on the latch elementis projected outwardly into the recess l8 in the end of the staffsection 5, thus preventing unintentional inward movement of the stafisection 6 and locking the staif sections against relative rotation.

In Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawings, I have shown a slightly modified formof the invention in which the member I3 is mounted in the staff section6 at a point adjacent to its upper end. The latch element 23 is mountedin the slot or groove of the member I5 for pivotal movement upon the pin24. In this case, said latch element is in the form of a lever (one endof which projects below the member l3 and has an angular locking finger25 adapted to be projected outwardly through registering openings 26 and21 respectively in the staff sections 5 and 6 by means of the spring 28which is connected at one of its ends to the latch lever and has bearingengagement at its other end against the wall of the staff section 6.Preferably, this spring 28 in spaced relation to its point of attachmentto the latch lever has bearing contact upon a stud 29 fixed to saidlever, so that said spring will be properly tensioned when the lever isdisplaced from its normal position.

At its other end, the latch lever 23 is formed with an obliquelyinclined lug 3!], with which the conical end 3| of pin 32 is adapted tocoact. In this case, the pin 32 is carried by a separate cap member 33threaded through the outer end of the sleeve 1 and which cap member alsoserves to clamp the central portion of the umbrella cover l2 against thesaid sleeve. The pin 32 extends through a recess in said cap member andis surrounded by the coil spring 34 which bears against the head of thepin and yieldably urges the same outwardly to its normal position.

In spaced relation to its lower end, the wall of the staff section 5, inthis last described form of the device, is provided with an opening 35,with which the opening 26 of the staff section 5 is adapted to registerwhen the latter section is extended outwardly to its limit from thesection 5. The angular member 25 of the latch lever is then projectedoutwardly by the spring 28 through these registering openings, therebylocking the two staff sections against any longitudinal or rotativemovement.

In closing the umbrella, the end 25 of the latch lever is pressedinwardly through the opening 35 and the staff section 6 is forcedlongitudinally into the section 5. When the end of said section 6 abutsagainst the inner end of the cap member 33, the opening 26 will be inregistration with the opening 21 and the angular or inclined lug 30 ofthe latch lever will be opposed to the conical end 3| of the pin 32,thus limiting the outward projection of lug 25 by the spring 28 throughthe registering openings, so that there will be very little projectionof the end of this latch lever beyond the outer surface of the staffsection 5 to thereby obviate the possibility of the accidental movementof the latch lever to its release position.

Therefore, in this form of the invention, unlike that first described,the latch lever operates to also hold the two staff sections againstrelative rotation when in their telescoped positions.

In order to move the lever 23 to its release position, pressure isapplied to the end of pin 32 with the finger, thereby compressing spring34 and causing the conical end 35 of said pin to coact with the inclinedlug 30 thereby rocking the latch lever and moving its angular end 25inwardly through the opening 21 of the staff section 5 against theresistance of the spring 28. Staff section 6 may then be moved outwardlyto its extended position from section 5, as seen in Fig. 4 of thedrawings.

From the foregoing description in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, the construction, manner of operation and several advantagesof the described embodiments of my invention will be clearly and fullyunderstood. It will be seen that either alternative provides a latchmeans for the telescoping staff sections, which is simple, reliable andefficient in its functional operation, as well as durable andinexpensive in its construction. The described constructions, as to theform and relative arrangement of the several elements, are more or lesssuggestive, though in actual use, I have found the same to bepreferable. However, it is to be understood that in the practicalapplication and development of my present invention, I reserve theprivilege of resorting to all such legitimate variations in the detailsof my present disclosure as may be fairly comprehended within the scopeof the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In an umbrella, an extensible staff comprising outer and innertelescopically connected sections, means for releasably holding saidstaif sections in telescoped relation, including a latch element carriedby the inner section, and means mounted on one end of said outer staffsection coacting with said latch element when the staff sections aretelescoped and controlling movement of said element to its latchingposition.

2. In an umbrella, an extensible staff comprising outer and innertelescopically connected sections, means for releasably holding saidstaff sections in telescoped relation including a latch element carriedby the inner section and yieldingly held in a normal position relativethereto, and a pin mounted on one end of said outer staff section, saidpin and latch element having coacting parts controlling movement of saidelement to its latching position when the staff sections are telescoped.

3. In an umbrella, an extensible staff comprising outer and innertelescopically connected sections, a frame supporting sleeve mounted onone end of the outer staff sections, means for releasably holding saidstaff sections in telescoped relation, including a latch element carriedby the inner section and yieldingly held in a normal position relativethereto, and a pin extending axially through the outer end of saidsleeve, the inner end of said pin having means to coact with said latchelement when the staff sections are telescoped and control the movementof said element to its latching position.

4. In an umbrella, an extensible staff comprising outer and innertelescopically connected sections, a latch device carried by one of saidsections, and spaced means on the other staff section with whichdifferent parts of said latch device coact to retain said staff sectionsin telescoped or extended relation to each other.

5. In an umbrella, an extensible staff comprising outer and innertelescopically connected sections, a yieldable latch element mountedwithin the inner staff section and having means to coact with means atone end of the outer staff section and retain said sections in extendedposition, a pin mounted on the other end of said outer staff section,and said latch element having additional means coacting with said pinwhen the staff sections are telescoped to control the movement of saidelement to its latching position, whereby said staff sections areretained in telescoped relation.

6. In an umbrella, an extensible staff comprising outer and innertelescopically connected sections, a sleeve on one end of the outerstaff section, a member extending inwardly from one end of said sleevehaving a conical terminal providing an angular shoulder, a leaf springfixed at one end within the other staff section, having a partintermediate of its ends to coact with means on the other end of theouter staff section and retain said sections in extended relation toeach other, and said spring having means at its opposite end to engagethe conical end of said member and coact with said shoulder to therebyretain the staff sections in telescoped relation.

7. In an umbrella, an extensible stailf comprising inner and outertelescopically connected sections, a latch lever pivotally mountedwithin the inner staff section, said staff sections having means withwhich one end of said lever is adapted to coact when said sections arein telescoped relation, to hold the sections against relativelongitudinal or rotative movement, and manually operable means mountedon the outer staif section and adapted to coact with the other end ofsaid latch lever to move said lever to its release position.

8. In an umbrella, an extensible staff comprising inner and outertelescopically connected sections, a latch lever pivotally mountedwithin the inner staff section, said staff sections having openingsadapted to register when the sections are fully telescoped, said leverhaving means at one end coacting with said openings to prevent relativelongitudinal or rotative movement of the staif sections, a cap member onone end of the outer staff section, and a manually operable pin axiallymovable through the cap member engag- 10. In an umbrella, an extensiblestafi' comprising inner and outer telescopically connected sections, alatch member movably mounted on the inner staff section adapted to coactwith means on said staff sections to retain the same in telescopedrelation, and means movably mounted on the outer staff section to coactwith said latch element and control the movement of said element to itslatching position, said means being manually operable to actuate saidelement to its release position.

11. In an umbrella, an extensible staff comprising inner and outertelescopically connected sections, a latch lever pivotally mountedintermedi ate of its ends on the inner staff section, said lever havinga terminal part to coact with means on said staff sections and retainthe latter in telescoped relation, and means mounted on the outer staifsection adapted to coact with the opposite end of said lever to controlthe movement of said lever to its latching position.

12. In an umbrella, an extensible staff comprising inner and outertelescopically connected sections, a latch lever pivotally mountedintermediate of its ends on the inner staff section, said lever having aterminal part on one end coacting with means on the staff sections toretain the latter in telescoped relation, a pin movably mounted on theouter staff section, said lever at its other end having a terminal partcoacting with said pin to control movement of the lever to its latchingposition, and said pin being manually operable to coact with the latterterminal part of the lever to move said lever to its release position.

JOHN A. H. SIERS.

